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Monday, May 22, 2017

How To Get The Look

Since the pool will be finished soon and the yard cleaned up, I have been looking for design ideas for the patio. I want something with that million dollar look that I can copy on my budget. I love all of the gorgeous wicker sectionals that I am seeing everywhere, and I love the soft washed look that I see on a lot of the wicker furniture.

How To Decorate made me gasp when I saw this picture. Now I would love to have a space like this of course. All those fabulous wood beams, the rock walls, fireplace and arched windows. Obviously that isn't what I have to work with. The other things I really liked were the colors, the pretty weathered look of the wicker furniture and the blue and gray tones mixed with browns. There is a lot that I can use as inspiration from a picture like this. I can try to achieve the soft weathered essence of the furniture and the casual elegant feel of the space.

This is another picture that caught my eye from Clipzine. I think what keeps attracting me is how they have created an outdoor room. Now I don't have a fireplace, but I can create a focal point and I can add curtains and that would go a long way to achieving the feel of this space.

Here's another example of how curtains can create a room. This one from Decoholic shows how simple plain curtains totally change the feel of this space. It now feels like a room. I also like the shutters on the window too. I could do that to my window.

Paige at Southern Curated shared her front porch makeover with these fabulous wicker chairs. I had been looking for some, but the price was way out of my budget.

When she shared that she found these for under $50 I immediately started the hunt for some. I found mine at my local Walmart. I love the soft weathered look and the color has both gray and brown in it, so these will work for my color inspiration.

This is a picture taken at the old house of what I have to work with. Not a sectional, but wicker and I think I can do a makeover on it to get the color that I want. (Maybe in a couple of years I can upgrade to a fabulous sectional.)

I found a couple of tutorials for painting wicker to achieve that weathered look . There were several tutorials to see and I really like how these two turned out.

Worthing Court shared her tutorial on how to make anything look like driftwood. The candles below are an example of how they look with her technique.

I used my Mother's Day gift card from AtHome to buy these great cushions. They have a light gray, charcoal and brown pattern. Really pretty.

See how nice they look with the chairs. I think I will use this fabric as the beginning of my color scheme. I envision gray and camel for my main colors.

In looking at the accessories used in this spaces, I like how they used garden stools as end tables. I especially like this gray one in this picture.

I did a tutorial a few years ago on How To Paint A Garden Stool. I have an aqua one and this one that I think I can repaint and use with the soft grays and browns that I want.

Ok, I don't have that gorgeous background to work with, or that furniture, but I can achieve the color used in my inspiration pic and with some imagination and a ton of DIY turn this into a great place to sit and relax. (I just need the pool finished and a magic wand to do something with the yard so I can start to work my own magic)

To Do List

Extend the end of the patio for a BBQ area and then cover both spaces with Travertine Tile

Create some kind of a focal point wall for the end of the patio

Make drop cloth drapes

Paint all the woodwork

Paint Furniture

Accessorize

I think painting wicker is my first step, so off to the paint store. Have you painted wicker before?

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We call my space outdoors The Zen Room - it's done in a feminine girlie "she shed" shabby style - I don't do it indoors but I can outdoors. Hubs has allergies so the space is truly my own. I have tea out there often.

All my vintage wicker was dark brown till I sprayed it white. I have to spray it yearly to keep it fresh. It's worn in this post's pics - got a spray not long after viewing those pics, haha.

So exciting, Marty and those inspiration photos are just stunning! I need to seriously freshen up my outdoor area...and by "freshen up", I mean tear off the deck and start all over again with a patio! Our deck is old and worn and no matter how many times we have it power washed and re-stained, it never looks good! For now I have to just settle on making the best of it! Looking forward to seeing what you do in your space! Enjoy your Sunday!Shelley

No matter what you do it will be awesome. Thanks for sharing all your wonderful inspiration pictures. Since we downsized to a condo, my screened in porch, needs a makeover too. Your house is beautiful and I can't wait to see that pool finished.

I love all your pictures for inspiration! I'm working on my patio and might try a couple of these idea. I'm working with a low budget but that's okay. It will get done a little at a time. I love the wicker from Walmart. Have a great day and I look forward to your progress. Hugs,

Oh do I understand. After building the pool, my budget is totally non-existent. Some spray paint is about all I can scrape up at the moment but I agree, little by little it will get done and look amazing.

Your pool area will be amazing! Lots of good ideas and I'm sure you can figure out how to incorporate some of the looks within your budget. That dreaded budget can actually turn out to be a springboard for creativity. Think I may have to try the driftwood look on a wicker table for the front porch.

How exciting to see your back yard coming into a design. I believe your husband will be working on the back yard with the plants. So, you can work on your patio. I have painted wicker - sprayed it and it looks good. Have to re-do about every other year. Like all your inspirations.... Have a great week.

Marty, I gasped at the first photo too. Be still my heart. We know you can pull a rabbit out of the hat and make it beautiful in due time. Living in FL, first on my list would be screening in the patio. Down here in this humid jungle, we have the Bug A Month Club atmosphere. Myrna

I have painted wicker....a few times...and now I'm dealing with flaking paint. I want to repaint it, but I'm looking at having to brush it with a stiff brush to remove the chips of paint before I can apply a fresh coat.

Marty, those chairs were a great bargain, and I really like the cushion fabric. I remember your garden stool project, and I'm sure you'll make as good or better an oasis than some of your inspiration photos. After all, you're going to have that pool as your showstopping backdrop and your husband will take care of all the landscape! I love that grey-brown color. It's very much like our bath vanity, and while it's not a true grey, it looks be very versatile for accent colors. I can't wait to see what you do. You inspire me with your pillows and paint projects often.

Your pool deck and patio are going to look marvelous! I just know it! The Walmart chairs look very sophisticated. I like the color. Your inspiration photos are fabulous -- you'll achieve the same effect on a budget, too.

Love the inspiration pics, I have a sectional that I love but my chow bear ripped it too shreds and now I have to go through the pain stacking task of making cushion covers... but I love the Idea of putting a gray wash over the wicker... I thought about that the other day... and wondered if anyone accomplished it? Thanks for the research!

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About Me

Hi, I'm Marty. Welcome - Moving back closer to family finds us transforming our "Builder Basic" into a home that reflects our lifestyle. This is where I share simple design ideas, easy diy projects and thrifty and chic finds. Careful planning, and a sharp eye for design can turn any house into your dream even if you have a small budget. I share it all, the successes and failures. We love to entertain so you'll find a few tried and true recipes and entertaining ideas too.